I do not regret reading this book, but I did not like it. It did not meet my expectations. I expected a discussion of, well, how our economic lives are shaped by biology and psychology. What I found was a standard (and compared to other books, less engaging) presentation of many common ideas from experimental psychology. Rather than a general discussion of economics and psychology, Shermer focused on a narrow point: human beings are not the rational creatures that economists assume we are. This

An attempted synthesis of behavioral economics and biology. Works in some places, doesn't work in others. The sections about addiction and neurobiology--how our pleasure centers drive our behavior--are backed by better empirical evidence than the sections where Shermer tries move from micro (individuals) to macro (social). I strongly agree with the criticisms prevented in this review, so I'll just link to it rather than re-typing its comments: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Informative, if not a bit repetitive. I love Shermer's writing and how he lays things out. He makes a good case here for the reasons we humans interact with each other in the ways that we do. Focusing on the underlying reasons for our cooperation and touching on how we can build on those.

Evolutionary perspectives on economicsThis is a lively, entertaining, useful and uneven work. Author Michael Shermer ranges over an array of disciplines to synthesize current understanding of the intersection of economics and evolution. He defines and debunks homo economicus, or the economic man, a theoretical creation who behaves in a purely rational fashion. Shermer weaves personal experiences with interviews of researchers, summaries of classic texts, and contemporary experiments and observat...

While an interesting and engaging book (mostly thanks to Shermer's talent as a writer); I think the book does not fully deliver on the promise of being a comprehensive study of evolutionary economics. There seemed to be a lot of emphasis on evolution, but not that much on economics. If you were to read one book on the evolutionary foundations of behavioral finance, you probably should look at Dan Ariely's or Jason Zweig's books. If you find yourself really interested in behavioral finance, this

I am a fan of Michael Shermer, but feel this was not his best work. A lot of the information in this book is a re-telling of what he's already written, and then attempted to tie into economic theory (see The Science of Good and Evil). I don't feel he made his thesis very strongly; in fact, I was left wondering what his thesis was. Some of his conclusions about free markets were not made as strongly as they could have been, and I never felt the tie-in between personal decision making and the over...

His work on cognitive biases is worth understanding, and he has a novel approach to thinking about economics. He does echoe a common theme of death to the theory of Homo Economicus. Through his attacks on the rationality assumption of humans. We make decisions for all sorts of irrational reasons, these seem to be unavoidable but hopefully they can be minimized in practice.If you read this book there is little need to read his other title: The Believing Brain which contains a good deal of similar...

It is sad to see a person that you like so much, a skeptic, a person that should understand science, to misinterpreted the theory of evolution in such a way so it will fit in his personal views on capitalism and free market. No, evolution is not some perfect process, constructed an manipulated by some invisible hand. And No, free market principles and extreme libertarianism wouldn't work for the homo sapiens. Human behavior just doesn't fit in this philosophical believes.

This was the first title for a new book club that I did the first review for. If you are interested in keeping up with the discussion that follows, you can visit the International League of Skeptics, and the book discussion thread.Long Story Short: This is a book about, variously, the free market, evolutionary psychology, and economic decision-making that has only one chapter devoted to the main premise of the book.The Book’s Strengths: Shermer has written a book about economics and trade that e...

Like a good meal nearly ruined by a bad ingredient, it is frustrating to see good ideas delivered in a middling package. Shermer's skeptical optimism is firmly rooted in cutting-edge social and natural sciences. Many of his detractors are shocked by his unapologetic defence of free market capitalism, and it does sound occasionally starry-eyed. But he backs up his arguments with good evidence, especially when discussing the economic dimensions of behavioural, neuro- and social psychology.The prob...

Michael Shermer is one of the best writers of popular science today. His style is highly accessible; he is knowledgeable about a wide array of sociological, psychological, and biological topics, and he is willing to examine multiples sides of any given issue. This is an excellent book describing the morality of capitalism based upon the newest discoveries in neuroscience. But it's also a more open look at how free market principles can help us prevent war--as he references: Bastiat's Principle--...

Having loved "How We Believe", I had high expectations for this one, but it never came together for me. While there were interesting passages and ideas, it was one of those where I would read ten pages, get sleepy, come back to it in a couple days and not remember the last 10 pages, have to backtrack a couple pages, get through 6 more pages, etc... It was a bit random. And the fact that he gets oddly conservative/libertarian in a couple places threw me for a loop. I'm not saying that's bad as a

This is pretty good book, once you get past the first few chapters. I do wish Shermer would stay off of idealogical discussions. The first few chapters of the book are consumed by a near-rant about how capitalism is the bestest ever. But Shermer falls prey to a common problem in the libertarian wing of the skeptical movement, where ideology is concerned he is as guilty of cherry-picking the arguments as anyone else. It never fails to disappoint me since he is otherwise a champion of identifying

This book has brilliant insights, linking our evolutionary & biological history with the marketplace went along way in showing how the market is really a collection of unconscious and mostly irrational decisions. Although it might not seem like it on the surface we are hardwired for altruism and the pursuit of self interest at all cost is not in our nature. The whole market is built on trust and this quality is intrinsically found in our hard-wiring. Great Book, amazing insights!

Some notes, before I quit the book:The banker's paradox says only the rich can get loans, but the rich aren't the ones who need them. So is friendship the same way, with people abandoned when they're down on their luck? To a degree, but insofar as a friend is reciprocally invested in helping you, he has value to you.The average Yanomamo village has about 300 unique items, whereas the "village" of Manhattan has 10 billion--33 million times as many. - p2Average annual income is growing at an accel...

This is a somewhat strange book, as it was written by an Ayn Rand libertarian, yet focuses on the findings from behavioral economics that in my mind show the idiocy of libertarian economics. Ayn Rand thought altruism was a swear word and greed the highest moral value, yet behavioral economists confirm what all non-economists already knew--most people are indeed social animals who care about each other, frequently cooperate, and often sacrifice their own welfare to help others. The coverage of be...

This book is sometimes odd because it seems to sit in the middle of three different disciplines - economics, psychology, and evolution - but that actually turns out to be a good thing, because it explains how the different disciplines tie together. A lot of the research is covered in other books, but the way he ties it together, explaining how different psychological principles probably emerged from our evolution (evolutionary psychology), but also how that effects our economic systems today - a...

Michael Shermer's life is as interesting as this explanation about how our minds haven't yet caught up to our modern economic world. We're hard-wired to make purchases quickly, share our big kills, trade with trusted systems, feel a rush at cooperating, avoid losses, and respond tit for tat. One interesting fact - quoting a Rudolf Rummel analysis - of 371 international wars from 1816 to 2005 where at least 1000 people were killed, 205 were between nondemocratic nations, 166 between a nondemocrat...

A bit difficult to read...so if your vocabulary is limited or even less than a masters in economics, sociology or psychology you might have trouble. I had to look up quite a few words.The title of the book is misleading. It’s more about interpersonal and interpersonal interaction within the bounds of economy. Some chapters are more interesting than others, mainly ones where it’s a practical example of the author’s theory.Also, it was not til the end that the author clearly explained his economic...

Many a year since enjoying his Why People Believe Weird Things, I am once again picking up on Shermer’s latest thoughts. Yet this time his ideas revolve around what makes up our economic minds and lives – rather than oddball cultish thinking, or contemporary popular myths. Shermer lets us readers know up front that he is essentially pro-capitalist – but not in the Social Darwinist sense of either “winner takes all” or “dog eat dog.” Rather, he makes it clear that capitalism is the best possible